No Contest
by purplecat19
Summary: What happens when Camelot's best knight and Camelot's best warlock go head-to-head?


Just a short, somewhat silly story. Nope, I don't own Merlin (darn). Enjoy!

oooooo

"Well, _sire,_ I've always been right about these things. And you never listen to me and then it seems like we're all doomed so I have to go miraculously save the day while you sit on your arse and do nothing."

"Merlin!"

"What? It's true."

"It is _not_ true. Just because you can wiggle your fingers and make something move does _not_ make you any better than the rest of us."

"Wanna bet?"

"Fine. Sure. Why not. We'll have a little competition tomorrow during training. Sword on magic."

"Wow. He really thinks he can beat me."

" _He_ is right here. And he _knows_ he can beat you. It's no contest."

"Well, we'll see tomorrow, I suppose."

"And I suppose you should get ready for the embarrassment of the century. Fair warning."

"Whose embarrassment would that be, again?"

"Merlin!"

oooooo

The next day found Arthur and Merlin standing across from each other on the training field, a semicircle of knights around them. Everyone was eager to see some battle magic, as Merlin rarely used much of it. Gwaine had gone around putting down bets with the others, and several of them had high stakes in this competition.

"Sure you want to do this, Merlin? No shame in backing out now." Arthur fingered the hilt of his sword.

Merlin shook his head. "Nah. Though I could ask the same of you. Seeing as you're not certain you'll win and all, since you're wearing the armor."

"The armor" in question was armor that Merlin had enchanted to make it more difficult for evil sorcerers to aim their magic at Arthur. In this case it would hinder Merlin, but he wasn't particularly concerned.

" _You_ made this for me," Arthur pointed out. "I thought you'd appreciate more of a challenge. Or do you want to take the easy way out?"

"Oh, no, the armor doesn't worry me. I think the fact that you're wearing it shows that you're not sure you can win."

"Would you get on with it, already?" Gwaine yelled at them. "We didn't come here to watch you insult one another! We hear that every day anyway!"

"Fine. Ready to show all these fine knights how much of an idiot you are, _Mer_ lin?" Arthur taunted, as he lifted his sword a little.

Merlin grinned wickedly back. "We'll see about that."

Gwaine raised his arm. Merlin and Arthur readied themselves. Gwaine brought his hand down. And so the fight began.

Merlin was merciless. He wasted no time firing a ball of green light at Arthur, and the king barely dodged it in time. Arthur rushed Merlin before the warlock could do anything else. He raised his sword, but as he swung it seemed to hit an invisible wall. Merlin knocked Arthur back with a burst of magic, and suddenly Arthur found himself lying on his back in the grass.

"Are you going easy on me, Arthur? Or are you just even more hopeless than I imagined?"

"Just testing your defenses," Arthur shot back as he got to his feet. Playtime was over.

Arthur and Merlin circled each other. Arthur watched Merlin carefully, and the moment he saw the warlock start to raise his hands, he feinted right, went left, and landed a hit on Merlin's chest. Merlin fell over backward, slightly clumsy in the (albeit light) armor he was wearing, and Arthur smiled.

"Not as easy as you thought, is it?" Arthur smirked down at him.

Merlin looked up at him and narrowed his eyes. Arthur realized his mistake as Merlin's eyes glowed golden and the ground beneath his feet became muddy and slippery. He felt himself being pulled backward. But he didn't fall over. The armor must've been doing its work. Arthur jumped out of the slippery spot and took note of it; perhaps he could get Merlin to step in it instead.

They circled one another again. This time Arthur lunged before Merlin could think of anything to do, but Merlin was ready for him. Arthur's sword was suddenly stuck in the dirt five feet away and he found himself dodging a blue fireball that exploded in the grass behind him. Merlin put the resulting fire out with a wave of his hand, but Arthur took advantage of the distraction. In one fluid move, he had Merlin in a chokehold with his sword back in hand, inches from the warlock's throat.

"Impressed?" he asked.

"Not really," Merlin replied. An evil grin stretched across his face.

Once again Arthur found the sword spinning out his grasp, and with Merlin suddenly free of his arms, and he ducked in case of any more oncoming fireballs. But he wasn't quick enough.

A force hit his side, spinning him in midair. Arthur rolled on the landing and stumbled to his feet, only to see Merlin stalking towards him with balls of golden light in his palms. Arthur got ready. He knew what this was. He'd seen Merlin use it once, on a particularly nasty slave trader who had turned out to be a sorcerer as well. As expected, Merlin brought his hands together in front of him. Arthur ducked and rolled forward, coming up under Merlin's arms and holding a dagger at his throat. The net that had been meant to hold him crashed into an equipment stand instead, and Merlin stepped back at Arthur's sudden appearance right in his face.

"I win," Arthur smiled.

"Not quite," Merlin shot back. Without knowing how it had happened, Arthur suddenly found himself flat on his back, unable to move his limbs. Merlin stood over him, grinning, in Arthur's opinion, quite stupidly. Idiot.

" _I_ win," Merlin said, and turned and walked away, towards the clapping and cheering knights. After a moment, Arthur felt the spell release on him. He rolled his eyes and sat up.

"Cheater," he muttered.

"That was a good fight." A hand had appeared in front of him. Arthur followed it up to its owner to see Leon smiling brightly down at him.

"I was going easy on him," Arthur said, taking Leon's hand and heaving himself to his feet.

"Of course, sire," Leon replied, but he couldn't seem to wipe the grin completely off his face.

oooooo

Well, I hope that made you smile! (Also, yes, we all know that really Merlin would win in an instant, I just really wanted to write them having some fun.) Please review – that would be amazing!


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